LETTER: Expression of faith isn't workplace harassment

As a public employee I was instructed recently that the anti-harassment laws in New Jersey cover everything from how a person looks and acts to their origin and orientation. While I believe these laws have good intentions, there is an aspect of them that is troubling to me.

This statute is designed to keep people from being sexually harassed, homosexuals from being antagonized and allowing individuals to work in an environment where race and gender are not the basis of their career.

All of these things are noble and I hope and pray this litigation is effective. However, under these statutes an individual can be reprimanded and sued for telling another employee or a member of the public that “God loves them” or if someone prays a blessing over them. I hope I’m not the only one taken aback by this.

A law that is designed to protect people from the most egregious and abhorrent wording and behavior humanity has to offer, places the discussion of faith on the same plane as emotionally and psychologically scarring a person through sexual assault or hatefulness. “God bless you” has become the same as verbal or sexual abuse.

What is so ridiculous is that this law is trying to litigate the instructions taught in the Bible. Loving your neighbor as yourself trumps judicial rulings any day. Maybe if a few more people like Walter Tutka (the substitute teacher facing discipline by the Phillipsburg School Board) took the time to teach these children the truth in the Bible, these laws wouldn’t be necessary.